Elder Ringwood visits the Jacksonville mission!

Elder Ringwood
visits the Jacksonville Mission!

My Missionary Sons

Boy, this missionary mom stuff is HARD SOMETIMES!

2 weeks ago, one was struggling really bad, now the other one is not doing well.....

I know we are taught to pray, but I have NEVER in my life prayed so hard and so many different times in one day for the same thing.

Here are some new pictures we just received:

The first one I receive from Robyn Arnold tonight in an email. She is the mom in the picture. She wrote me the greatest email, thanking me for raising my son right and so grateful he was there at that particular time. My son baptized her son. This is the family Daniel wrote about in his last letter....his miracle family! She is a scrapbooker and he husband loves fantasy football... Daniel says they remind him of us sometimes and will be a family he takes us to visit when we go to Florida at the end of his mission to pick him up!

This is a picture of Zack, his companion Elder Drishinski and President Peterson and his wife. I was so thrilled to see her...they are both just awesome people that have such a love for their missionaries!

I just love and miss my boys so much!

Knowing they are where they should be does soften the ache, but it's still there night and day.

Recent Pictures of Elder Tate

Here are some pictures Daniel sent us this week!

Below are 4 of his newest baptisms!

Zack's in URUGUAY!!!

Zackary and his Trainer Elder Drishinski

I generally post our boys emails on their own mission blogs, but this one was so neat! I can tell he is happy and excited! What a relief....he has a tile floor, he is eating, he liked his companion, he loves the history and look of Uruguay already....what a awesome first letter from the field!!




First i want everyone to know im ok. Uruguay is awesome! Im in Artigas for my first transfer and im being trained by an Elder Drishinski from Montana. He`s been out for about 16 weeks now and is making sure im learning whats needed for the coming days and the next transfer. Hheads up, there's another Elder Tate in the mission, so make sure Zack Tate, is in there as the name! Artigas is very green and its a beautiful place to be. The people are humble and almost all are willing to atl east listen to our message. According to E.Drishinski, our house is nicer than alot of the houses ill get to stay in. All the flooring is tile, there are 2 bed rooms and bathrooms for us and the other latin companionship. We've got places to study and eat. It's more than i expected for the first house. You guys were right on the cooking..we have microwaves, blenders, pots, pans, and a gas stove sitting on a propane can on a table to cook on. We dont do the cooking too often, thankfully. the members do a good job taking care of us. Today was pday and we got the chance to go with all the Elders in Artigas in street clothes up to Brazil. The border is literally 15minutes away by foot and theres no restriction for passing over to the other country, none at all, made me laugh. Alot of what we eat is meat. lots of beef and chicken with rice or beans. Lunch is the bigger meal here, dinner is usually something smaller. For us, roman noodles arent uncommon depending on the day. We shop nearly every other day for what to eat since there isnt much in the sense of storage at the apartment. I've yet to recieve the package, Im hoping it didnt get stuck in customs. if it didnt, I should get it tomorrow at our district meeting. details huh.. ok. we woke up at 4am in the morning on Tuesday. Everything was packed the day before, so I ended up wearing the same shirt and garments from the day before... ew. haha. Everything went well from there, got on the bus, headed to the airport but then found out that the next West Uruguyas group got their names on the tickets instead of ours. So we hung around for an extra 3 hours and took a small plane 30 minutes to Montevideo. We met the mission president, his wife, and the assistants. They took care of our bags and sent us to the Presidents house where the Hermana(wife) had made potato soup in sourdough breadbowls!! awesome! We got a little presentation on their family, they have 6 kids, one is living with them in Montevideo, one is on a mission, the rest are off and married. We slept, woke up, changed, and headed downstairs to meet our trainers. They put us in a circle facing the wall in this room while the trainers came in behind us. After they sang Called To Serve, in Spanish, we were permitted to turn around and get to know them and where we'd be goin for our first transfer. ARTIGAS!! 9 HOUR BUS RIDE!! WOOOOOOOO....... Anyway, Elder D and I went with 2 others and got the tour of some places. First we hit the olderst Catholic cathedral in Montevideo and wow.. what culture. The art and architecture was amazing. Elder D saw that I liked it and said, "It really is beautiful.. the only problem is they worship these things. they pray to them and all." (Funny to my how they can believe in the Bible and start filling their temples with the engraven images.) After that, we saw where they ashes of General Artigas rested, there's alot of intresting history there, check him out on wikipedia or somethin.Yes! thankfully I did get all the emails that had been sent. Brittney, Bro. Murphy, Dad, G. Judy, Gparents Ferrin and more. THANK YOU TO ALL. I'm going to try to reply to them all so that the buses can take them to the mission office to be sent out. I hope to see the package(s) there tomorrow too, i havent recived any recently.. I'm sending ya another email and hope that i can get some pictures through. love you all!!

Touring Independence & Liberty Missouri

Each year we come to Kansas, we wish we'd planned extra time to tour some Church History Sites. So Monday, we didn't fly out until 3:00, so headed to Independence to see what we could find! My eyes caught this aweful looking building from across town, so we figured that was SOMETHING.... holy cow can you imagine our church every building anything like this?!!!??
I learned this is the R-LDS Church's Temple, now called the Community of Christ. They don't do temple work inside though, they give tours.
My first thought when I saw it was that it was an alien building! LOL
Then we drove 10 miles to Liberty to see Liberty Jail.
It was a nice drive..went across this cool bridge!!

When we walked inside the Liberty Jail location, this pictured caught my eye......
it's showing the long walk Emma had to take to visit Joseph while in the jail....
heart breaking, isn't it?

They've now got this room enclosed in a huge circular room
and have this replica of the Liberty Jail as part of their tour.
It shows how small the room was. 2 of the men could never stand up
all the way, one suffered from a crooked back the rest of his life because of it

TOC & Football Draft

So Sean gets so embarressed when I post about his Putt-Putt Days, but hey....in the midwest and even eastern states, it's a SPORT!! Just cuz us Arizonan's don't appreciate it (could be cuz we grew up calling it 'GOOFY GOLF;) It's nothing like it is here...the metal rails are made to help you hit off of them and get your hole in one! (not quite the same as bricks that we have here!)!! We have alot of fun going back to Kansas and Oklahoma a few times each summer to see his friends and let him play a little bit (they all get together twice a month at various courses in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska)! He's known this group of guys since he was 16 years old...most of them are older then Sean, but it doesn't matter!

Sean did really well the first two days, he even had a run of 8 straight aces in a row! But on championship day, his head wasn't in the game and he didn't do well! It doesn't matter though....we both had a good time, getting away from work for 4 days and spending quality time together!

Sean's really close friend Shannon won the Am. Championship,
Player of the Year, AND Stoke Average Winner for 09

Sean got 2nd Place in the Am Division on Day 2 - Last Chance TournamentSean & Greg won the doubles competition! SO THRILLED to win $60!!!

Fantasy Football Draft

So if you know Sean, you know football is KING!
Not sure what he enjoys more about this weekend,
the live fantasy football draft, or the putt-putt!!!
This year is was 14 teams, it's been going on for 21 years now!
Use wives try our best to get into it......

We got this wonderful picture from the mission home!!
It looks like they are on the beach!!
So glad he is there safe......now to just get thru the weekend without knowing where he is!
Monday is P-Day....when I hear from my Zackary.....
What city is he in?
What is his living environment like?
Is he warm enough?
How well is he eating?
WHAT is he eating?
Thank goodness for prayer......

Zack's off to Uruguay today!!

After finally going to bed at 2:30 am last night....you can imagine my shock when Sean came into the room talking on the phone loudly at 4:00 am....I wasn't too thrilled with him to be woken up!! Then after listening I realized he was talking to our ZACKARY!!!

I can NOT believe I totally forgot they get to call home from the airport when they leave the MTC!! DUH!! So he sounded so great....he was VERY talkative...and little slips of Spanish crept in alot! If I said something he didn't hear quite well, he'd say, "que?" LOL instead of 'what'? LOL and 'SE' instead of yes...it was cracking us up!!

We got to talk to him for almost 45 minutes and it was soooooooooooooooo awesome!!
The MTC has a website http://www.lds.org.ar/CCM/indexccm.htm it's really neat, but in Spanish so I had fun trying to figure out what anything said!!

But their plane tickets were all screwed up, so they were delayed 2 hours for the next flight! LDS Travel had issued all the tickets in the groups names that had just ARRIVED at the MTC that week, not the ones leaving...OOPS!!

So anyhow...thought I'd update all of you that he is now in Uruguay!! He said he spends the day in Montevideo in the mission home and will travel to his area tomorrow. The mission home is in the city of Montevideo, as far south as the country goes before you hit the ocean. Both mission homes/offices and temple are on the same block, which is actually outside of his mission, so it could be quite a ways to travel....hope I hear sooner rather then later!

The picture is all of the missionaries that left the MTC with him today!

k- nap time....I'm exhausted today for some reason!!!

Emmalee & Sara's Birthday Lunch/Shopping Day!!!

These silly girls have decided they are doing their birthday's together from now on!
We had SO MUCH FUN!!
They chose Texas Roadhouse for lunch and Target for shopping!

They were so excited to ride the bull while everyone sang Happy Birthday to them!!
(they were pretty embarressed too!)
(they were triply glad it was lunch and not the dinner crowd!!!!!)

We about died when Whitlee came over to take our order!!
She is Sadi's BFF!!!
The girls demanded a picture with her, and then I had to text it to Sadi from my phone right that moment!!!

LOVE these girls!!!

Sadi's Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

OHMYGOSH.........

TO DIE FOR!!!

So a week or so after our Fried Chicken success night...somehow cinnamon rolls got brought up!
OH...I remember now! All of us girls were downstairs working one morning and I was looking at dearelder.com to send Daniel some cookies or something and saw a picture of these cinnamon rolls that just made my mouth water!! And I thought (outloud)....I wonder if dearelder.com will ship to US!! HAHA!! Then I saw the price and said.....ok, nevermind, we can make 100 of them for that price!! Then 'ding ding' SADI MAKES CINNAMON ROLLS!!!
And that's where it started! Didn't she do a great job of demonstrating each step?!!??

Travis' Bday Lunch & Shopping!!

Travis was the first to start our tradition of shopping and lunch that I now do with each of my 15 nieces and nephews each year on their birthdays! He still remembers what we did, and what he picked out at ToysRUs all those years ago!
I can't believe Travis is now 11 years old...AMAZING!!!
I think this is our 4th year at Red Robin...we had so much fun creating our own burger on the kids contest that is running right now.
It's the Macho Nacho Burger
Beef, Jalapeno's, Nacho Sauce
YUMMY!!!

Fried Chicken Dinner!!!

So here's the story! Today Sadi was telling me that she attempted to make Fried Chicken for her hubby Morgan last week while I was out of town. I guess it was a DISASTER!! Her oil was too hot and so it burned and the inside was still raw!! She ended up mad as could be and tossed it in the garbage and they ate potatoes and corn for dinner that night!

So I started thinking...wow...I know Paula Deen has a great recipe for Fried Chicken that she swears ANYONE can make.....I vaguely remember making fried chicken ONCE in my life and it wasn't pleasant either! So we were up for the challenge!

We printed the recipe, headed to the store, and made Fried Chicken for our hubby's for dinner tonight!! We were so proud of ourselves!!!

wow....so you SUBMERGE the chicken in the oil.....sadi just tried frying with a small amount of oil in a fry pan!! (nice when you follow directions!) WHO NEW???

So this is funny.....I bought some biscuits for breakfast this weekend....and when we set the bag in the car, the biscuits exploded!! HELLO AZ HEAT!!

so.....DUH.....we needed biscuits tonight anyhow!!

AMAZING how that happened!!!

Morgan was in charge of salad.....he chose the 'dump version' but it was very tasty salad!!

So here is our finished version....now come on...doesn't that look just AMAZING????? IT WAS!!!

Ahhhhh...the happy couple.....chalk one more recipe down for the books of a new bride!!!

Task accomplished!!!

Fried Chicken~Mashed Potatoes & Gravy~Biscuits~Corn~Salad

Orlando!!

So I didn't take MY camera....too much luggage and I didn't want to lug it around...so told Mom to bring her smaller one! But I still took some pictures! I never take any at the convention eventhough I should...but I did take some of the Pirate Dinner Show we all went to:Miniature Golfing:

Oh ya, here is ONE convention picture!!
My DAD won a huge drawing at 7 Gypsies!!
My mom was so excited cuz she wanted the bindery machine so bad, and there was one inside the basket!!

Then on Wed we dropped off mom & dad at the airport cuz they had responsibilities at the temple....and he craziness began!!
First we went to Universal's Roller Coaster Park...very similar to 6 Flags

Sean just HATES twirly roller coasters, and this park was full of them!!


After riding THE HULK twice, the Free Fall once, and one other, we had to 'take a break'.


Then he FORCED me to go on the stupid wet rides....I HATE THEM but he said it's all fair....and it WAS FLIPPIN HOT, so we did two back to back and were literally drenched!!Then on Thursday night after just PIGGIN OUT at The Crab House, we drove to Kissimmee to find this "Putt Putt' Course...and it was just POURING RAIN when we got there...so sadly...it was closed for the day....but I HAD to take pictures of these two holes for his friends to see...he'd never seen these type before.....I'm sure you'll be interested to know the NATIONALS are played at this course each year!!!!

I enjoyed sending Daniel a picture of the Orlando Temple...rubbing it in that we were there before he was!!!

We also went to :http://www.universalorlando.com/iq/?page=blueman

we really really enjoyed the show....it's hard to find good clean comedy!!

We HIGHLY recommend it!!!

And of course I'll always remember my addiction to twilight...that began with this trip! I was soooo desperate for a new book to take with me....I just can't survive plane ride's any longer without a book to read! So on Facebook I posted that i need suggestions, and 'twilight' just kinda happened.....the funny thing was that 3 friends offered me their copies.....I never made it to Holly's house, Evi was too far away when I realized I'd forgotten to grab Holly's and she was at work.......Brittney FORGOT to bring her copies to work for me....so I had Lacey bring me book 1, as she was dropping us off at the airport! It was 500 pgs...we thought it would last a 5 day trip!! Well....I finished it in a day and a half. Bought #2 at Wal-mart for 8 bucks.....3 days later, bought #2 at Wal-mart again....HARD BOUND....$13 bucks....then the day we left....paniced at the airport cuz I only had 100 pages left...so paid $23 BUCKS for #4!! ALL WASTED money as everyone I know has the books....but geesh....SO ADDICTING...how could I wait?? And I don't have time to READ here at home!! So I'm into book 4 150 pgs or so.....and it's 740 pages...so hopefully I finish soon! My mom is now addicted too...she just started book 3, so I better hurry!

It was a great break to get away for a week....we had this time share that was paid for til Saturday, so it killed us to just leave...that began our extending...then we extended AGAIN and stayed until Saturday night!

I was never allowed to be alone in a car for fear I'd take off to St. Augustine where Daniel is....UUGGHH it was hard at times...but overall I did pretty well!

I'm excited for all the fun new scrapbooking product that is coming in the next 90 days...some as soon as next week!! It's good timing that my sisters and a few friends are scrappin this weekend...I came home with 2 suitcases full of free stuff!!!

Costa Vida with MY GIRLS!!!

Courtney was here for July 4th weekend, so she came over and we surprised the other girls and went to Costa Vida for lunch!! It was alot of fun! We got Daniel's letter right before we left, so read it in the car on our way....LOTS OF FUN!!!
Good company, good food......love these girls!!

July 4th at the CABIN!!

So Zackary left on Wednesday and we left for the cabin for July 4th weekend on Friday. I think we were afraid to be home in an empty house for too long! We had alot of fun with Bill & Julie's family!Waiting for the Heber Fireworks show to begin!

The kids had a lot of fun with the light sticks!

They gave Uncle Sean Sour Patch Kids!!
Can you see the busted light stick stuff on his cheek!!!

Sean, doing dishes??? A FIRST!! And smiling??? WOAH!!

Oh the kids had so much fun playing vs Uncle Sean on their DS'

LOVE THE RAIN!!!

He's OFF!!!

WOW...what a week! I can NOT believe he is really gone. It's been 15 months since Zack got up after watching the April 08 General Conference and decided he was ready...sat down at the computer and started his paperwork to begin the mission process! What a journey for him to prepare himself and NOT go, until HE was ready! He has grown so much. It's such an honor to be his mom and watch him grown into the man he is today. He is so excited, so ready to serve the people of Uruguay! I miss him so much already, but am excited for him at the same time!

We were so relieved to hear he was meeting up with 3 elders and 3 sisters in Dallas, and they would all travel the 10 hours to the Argentina MTC together!
Zack and his cousins...missing are Daniel, Ashlee (girls camp) and sleeping Chloe!

The whole fam!!

Gramma says her goodbye!

Mom's wasn't as easy......the tears flowed......and I just couldnt' let go of him....

Same with dad.....a happy but really tough day on us both......

heading to the gates!

Zack and Elder Cuthbertson, his traveling companion from Glendale

wave goodbye to their families

My mom said all the little girls did great...no tears....all smiles until they saw me lose it...then one by one, most of them were in tears........they are so tender and are all so close! I'm SO GLAD they love going to lunch with their Aunt Shari and promise to keep me busy so I don't get lonely with no kids in the house!!

Zack's Setting Apart Night!

Zack's last meal in the USA HAD to be at Mi Amigos'!!!! It's his absolute favorite!!

All of the family met for dinner prior to his setting apart!!

Little girls table

Big Girls Table

Boys Table

Girls eating chili's!!

now on to the serious stuff.....he's in the 'santa chair'!!

Lacey just barely made it!! She flew in from Utah just in time!!

President Salmon makes it OFFICIAL!!

Zack and Bishop Baker!!

My daughters.....will carry me through this......

I was late taking this picture, dang it! President Salmon and Marcus Ridgway had already left.

Zack's Open House

Of course at the Ferrin House, if there is a reason to party....we party!! I can NOT believe how many people came over to see Zack off at the Open House! I think we stopped counting at 140. I know we ran out of food an hour in....and desserts soon after that...wow we are so lucky to have so many friends and family and SO MUCH SUPPORT!

One terrific day....Zack did such an awesome job with his talk. He was told 10-12 minutes and ended up having over 20 to speak....and cut his talk short!!

Pre-4th of July BBQ!!

Zackary was INSISTANT that we have a 4th of July BBQ and Pool Party a weekend early so he wouldn't miss it. He had very specific requests too! I had to make my homemade pasta salad, and Watermelon Bomb! So here is a picture with him devouring it!! It was a fun party!

Look what came from Fed-Ex today!!!!

woohoo!!!! plane tickets!!!????

WAIT.......MOM.......

we have a problem.........

they sent his traveling companions tickets to us on accident!!!!!

OOPS!!!!

8 THINGS......

So this is kinda funny.....I realized today I hadn't read my friend Leisa's blog in SOOO LONG... It's private so it doesn't show up on my dashboard...so it takes brain power to remember!! So her 2nd post is this tag....and she tagged me.....wow Leisa...great minds think alike!

8 favorite TV Shows

Survivor
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Paula Deen ANYTHING
The Biggest Loser
CSI (the original)

NCSI
Without A Trace

8 Things I Did Yesterday
Worked
Went to Costco

Made Rocky Road Brownies

Went to HFPE

Organize/Deposit BPO Checks
Helped Sean with his job from 10:30 to midnight

Read Scriptures
Had my first cry over Zack leaving in 12 days

8 Favorite Restaurants

Mi Amigos

Carrabba's
Melting Pot (B-day choice)
Gecko Grill
Costa Vida (going today!)
Olive Garden
Compass Room (sentimental)
Native New Yorker

8 Things I am Looking Forward To

Going to see WICKED!!!

July 1st - Zack fly's out to Argentina MTC

Lunch today with Ashlee

Date Night Tonight
Saturday with NO PLANS!!

Trip to Orlando-end of July

Getting 2 missionary letters each week!

My Basement TOTALLY Organized!

8 Things on My Wish List

My emotions to stay in check for 12 more days!
Down time

Basement completely organized

Garage boxes put away (at least my car fits now)

Down time

Lots of traveling with Sean
To scrapbook more

Down Time

Eight People I Tag
Meredith
Ashlee
Wendi
Dawn
Lisa
Teresa
Keisa
Sadi

Bowling Fun!!

For FHE we adopted two daughters and headed to the bowling alley for some light hearted fun!!

Such a serious face, Zackary!!!

Courtney & Lacey

The girls were soooo silly.....we had a great time!!

Sean was in all competition mode!

he took down my high score in the last frame of the last game!

High 5 to mom...the winning strike of round 1!

Granny style!

Sadi's Wedding Day!

The perfect day.....just like her dreams.....

The perfect boy......the perfect place.....

The happy mom's!

Sadi's 2nd Mom's

Second moms give 'birds n bees' talk.....

The perfect cake.......

Lots of friends & family were there to celebrate.....

Perfect Dance with her dad.....Then the REAL craziness begins......

The perfect dancing song......
My Life Would SUCK Without You!!!The perfect goodbye from friends n' family.....

The sweetest girl ever........becomes a MARRIED WOMAN!!!

We were so lucky to get to spend this awesome day with Sadi and Morgan! They are so cute together and so full of love it just radiates!

Memorial Day BBQ/Pool Party 09

The family party ended up being at our house at the last minute! The kids has a blast in the pool, and the food was great as usual! Zack spent HOURS throwing the little ones until his arms were too tired! What a good sport he is!

We also celebrated Megan's birthday!!

1st BBQ at the new house!!

Our first BBQ/Pool party was for those that work with us and those that helped us move! It was alot of fun! We ended up playing water volleyball for what seemed like hours!

The Missionaries Mom Phone Call!!!

It was so great to hear Daniel's voice again...waiting until December is going to be really tough since it was only a month ago that I saw his face, and 10 days ago that we talked on his layover in Georgia! 6 months...holy cow that's a long time! We talked almost 90 minutes and it was so hard to say goodbye. After his closing 'tribute' to me as a mother, he had me in tears, then to hear a crack in his voice...wow...he NEVER breaks down...he said the mission life has torn down walls and he's actually felt the spirit so strong he's been in tears...those of you that know Daniel, know that he just doesn't do that! He sounded great! He gets $140 bucks a month for food, etc. His companion has only been out 4 months, and is from Idaho. They have a baptism tomorrow! He said it's known as the hardest mission in the US cuz they have such strict rules and the Pres. expects so much out of each one of them. In his first letter from FL, the night he arrived, I could tell he was really overwhelmed with what was expected of him. He was challenged by one of the AP's to not write his girlfriend anymore, and put those thoughts and strength into his work, and he accepted the challenge, wrote Courtney his last letter and feels he was blessed the next day with a baptismal committment. If you remember his favorite scripture...it's what it's all about. Putting complete faith and trust in the Lord. I was so worried about Courntney all week, knowing this letter was on its way to her....and ironically she got it in the mail the day she was coming to my house, with Lacey in the car (she'd already gone thru this same thing with Trevor), and so I was able to be there and talk to her, and let her read the letter Daniel wrote to me. It had SUCH conviction in it. Courtney was fine....she said she new something was up and was glad to know what it was. Her response was, "if this is how he needs my help, that's what I'll do!" of course she has my letters to read that we post on his blog weekly, and can still write to him...he just feels strongly that his concentration needs to be on the work, not his girl back home! Amazing kid....both of them.

Thumbs up from Lacey, Daniels sister in every way!

Courtney enjoying her 5 minutes! (We kept it on speaker phone for the first 30 minutes, which was fun as we all threw out questions, then everyone got about 5 minutes, except me, I took about 15!)

Dad was on the computer, google mapping his address...it was so funny! It was like he was staring at his apartment the whole time he was on the phone. He was full of all kinds of advice like....for every 1000 doors you knock, you'll get inside ONE.....what roach bomb to buy to get rid of them once and for all.....how to use the members to your advantage....etc!

Then, of course, Daniel was full of study and mission advice for Zack!!

The girls were looking up Daniel's and Trevor's addresses on google too!

We even saw Daniel's mission car in front of the apartment!!

So, all in all, a great day! He sounds good....he hasn't had any problems whatsoever with his legs, knees, or back at all. At home, he had a back ache after walking the mall...so that is a miracle!

So anyhow, I put this little update on my blog as everything else has gone on Daniel's Mission Blog! All is well in Florida!

It was a great Mother's Day.....breakfast, coursage, church, games, chocolate, and the phone call!

Elder Call & Elder Tate

http://www.missionsite.net/elderdanieltate

Boston Birthday!!!

We spent my birthday weekend in Boston! It was our first time in Boston and we loved it!

We went to Uno's for lunch and Kelli surprised me with a pazookie and an embarressing song by the waiters!

Can't go to Boston and not see Fenway! I just wish we had booked the tour!

They played the Yankee's and won!!!

Sean said we are NOT paying those prices to see the Red Sox!!

Some random sightseeing pic's

For dinner on my birthday, Sadi chose to take us to Little Italy, and we walked around until we picked one! Bella Vista was the choice, and oh man was it a good one....YYUUMMMYYYY!!!

And the portions were HUGE...especially the Lasagne....it was like...1/2 a pan...and believe it or not, Zack ate ALL OF IT! He shared one bite with me, and I want that recipe sooooo bad!

HHMMMM how many years until the babies come??? LOL too bad they gotta finish up school first!

Cliff models the hat I chose for him!!
The boys LOVED the "T"

Well, it just so happened Sadi went through the temple for her first time....the same weekend as my birthday!! I'm so glad we could be there with her! We had SO MUCH FUN!!
I definately had enough of the "T" (subway) after 3 days....but I guess it's good for the city life! Zack actually fell in love with the place and now wants to go back after his mission!

Sadi took us through Boston University, then we also walked around Harvard Square (Morgan is a Harvard Student).

Replicating their first kiss....is this exact spot!!

Here we all are after the temple session! We were STARVING...and had to walk a mile to the bus stop, wait 20 minutes for the next bus, and head to Harvard Square to this yummy mexican food restraunt Sadi wanted to take me to!! And believe it or not, it was really good....I was surprised to find good mexican food in Boston!

There's always room for ice cream, right? We had to get some after lunch ..... the picture below is us waiting for the "T". We didn't know Brooks was in the picture until we looked at it later at thehotel!! He is so funny!

What a fun time we had.....good people, good food, good scenery!

No Greater Joy.......

Then receiving your missionaries first letter!!!
I had been watching my email like CRAZY.....then all the sudden someone said to me....."you will probably get a letter Saturday or Monday in the mail, before he sets up his email account". So nothing on Saturday came....on Monday morning I decided that THIS WAS THE DAY!! I told my mom on the way to the gym that I decided his P-Day was Monday! hahaha like I have any control in the matter!
So anyhow, we take another load of stuff to the new house, I FORGET to check the mail prior. We stayed a few hours and set all the shelves up downstairs for Happy N Scrappin', then didn't come home until 9:30. Zack walked down to get the mail for me....and what do ya know.....there was this WONDERFUL envelope in my son's handwriting! I think I screamed, and grabbed it and sat on the floor by Sean and read it out loud!!! He wrote it Wednesday night...the day we dropped him off, so not too much had happened since it had only been 7-9 hours since he last hugged me...but it was wonderful!
To read it, go to http://www.missionsite.net/elderdanieltate
So he is having a hard time only being allowed to eat '3 timed meals a day' LOL
So eventhough I had a jammed packed day today, I got up at 7:00 and went to the grocery store to get his favorite junk food and snacks so I could get them mailed today! It's such a perk to have daily pick up at my house from the Post Office!!!

Daniel enters the MTC!!!

Today.....was....lots of mixed emotions for us! Well, three of us anyhow!! Daniel woke up READY and EXCITED! We had to check out at 11:00, and weren't assigned to be at the MTC until 1:00, so drove around BYU and then decided....let's just go and park and watch. So we did. I could only handle it for 5 minutes though! Seeing all the parents and Elders take pictures and cry and laugh, and the mom's hold on tight. So we decided just to go in early. I'd heard the report time wasn't all that important, they just stagger them so they don't have 100's to check in at the same time! So we had a family prayer, and of course Sean and I bawled through the entire thing. But when I heard Sean ask a special blessing to be on me, that my heart would calm, it did. When the prayer was over, I said out loud...."ok...we are done crying....let's be happy! "

So it was all good....we got into the lobby and they handed him his official tag!! He let me put it on him, which I felt honored to do!

The red sticker means "I'M NEW-if I look lost, help me!!!"

So we left the Utah and flew home tonight....it was weird to be one family member short. So many times I picked up my phone to text him...just a simple question...what day is your P-Day, how is it going?, did they feed you good food?, do you like your companion? how many are going on to Jacksonville with you? Just little curious questions a mom wants to know. When they announced we'd hear from our missionaries in the next 7-10 days, I ABOUT DIED!! Are you KIDDING ME??? I say 5 days tops, ok? This is priority!!

Then on our way home, several friends and family texted me to check in......each one I received brought on tears, so I kept responses to a minimum, but loved getting them. I felt the prayers today and still need them....I don't feel like talking to anyone really. Talking about it brings on tears!

My parents picked us up from the airport, and my dad told me his good friend summed it up right (he is a general authority).....what the mom feels is Miserable Joy. That's about right! It's just a hard thing to ask a mom to do! Good thing this church is true!

When I have stuggles, I just think of Daniel's face....that adorable face that didn't shed ONE TEAR saying bye to his mom.....he is just so ready for the next two years!! And that makes this process alot easier for me.